


Shovel Talk

by OhNoMyBreadsticks



Series: Bready Fills Prompts [15]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Confusion, Elijah Kamski & Gavin Reed are Siblings, Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Good Elijah Kamski, M/M, Protective Siblings, Shovel Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23257234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhNoMyBreadsticks/pseuds/OhNoMyBreadsticks
Summary: There are days when Nines is sure he's never going to understand human culture, and today is one of them. It's bad enough that the creator of androids himself is the half-brother of his new boyfriend, now there's somehow threats involved too? What's a beleaguered android to do?
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: Bready Fills Prompts [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1411321
Comments: 12
Kudos: 134





	Shovel Talk

**Author's Note:**

> This was a request fill for anon on tumblr, who asked for "reed900 with good/okayish brother Elijah being protective? Maybe worried because he knows what RK900 was made for (even though he's a huge softie for Gavin)." I couldn't decide if this fic should be a comedy or a drama for the longest time, but ended up sticking with comedy cause we could all use a bit of levity rn lol. Enjoy some Elijah Kamski brand chaos!

There were many strange things about this situation, Nines thought to himself, it was definitely one of those days where life had decided to just pile it on. Where to begin? Was it perhaps the fact that he was talking to Elijah Kamski, the founder of Cyberlife and creator of androids? Was it the fact that Elijah was apparently the half brother of Nines’ partner and now boyfriend Gavin Reed? Or was it the fact that he was giving Nines what he had colloquially referred to as a ‘shovel talk’?

According to the Urban Dictionary entry that Nines had pulled up for reference, a shovel talk was apparently “The "If you hurt him/her I will break you" talk given as a warning to a romantic partner from a concerned party, usually family or a close friend.” Sometimes the complexities of human culture were just too much for Nines, and he had taken to just looking things up rather than asking Gavin. The internet was just as likely to lie to him as his boyfriend was, a fact which Gavin would deny to no end but still snicker about despite this.

Elijah looked terribly serious about this whole business, and Nines did his best to refocus his attention back onto him. He found it difficult to focus on simple tasks some days just because information about Gavin was taking up space in his processors. He was in love, after all, so that was excusable in his opinion. Fowler hadn’t agreed, but as Gavin liked to say, ‘fuck the police’. Ignoring the fact that they were all police and Fowler was their boss, of course.

Okay, focus. Nines needed to focus. Elijah had stopped and was looking up at him expectantly. Nines replayed the last little bit of the conversation and replied appropriately.   
  
“I understand your concern, Mr. Kamski, but I can promise you I don’t pose a threat to the public. My combat abilities are kept under strict protocols so that I do not lose control during a chase or a conflict.”

Elijah’s brow furrowed and he stared up at Nines through his glasses with an even more annoyed and serious look (if that was possible). “I’m not worried about the public, or about your job. I’m worried about my brother.” He said, crossing his arms, “And you  _ clearly _ haven’t been paying attention. You had that blank polite smile that Chloe always gets when she’s pretending to listen to me but is actually live chatting with her girlfriend.” 

Nines supposed he should have expected this level of android knowledge from Mr. Elijah Kamski himself, but he still felt a shock of embarrassment at being called out like that. Shooting him what he hoped was an apologetic smile, Nines tried to recover his wits to formulate an appropriate answer. The question itself was puzzling, and when he did speak it was slowly, choosing each word carefully.

“I would never hurt Gavin, Mr. Kamski. Absolutely not. I can’t even pre-construct a scenario in which that might happen.”

A lie, Nines often envisioned scenarios in which he hurt Gavin, but those were in order to reassure himself that they would never become reality. To test his safeguards and ensure that they were firmly in place. It was what a huge part of his processing power went towards, but Elijah Kamski didn’t need to know that. All he needed to know was the outcome of that process, which was that he was absolutely certain he would never ever hurt Gavin.

“I see.” Elijah said, arms crossed, eyebrows furrowed, clearly still skeptical, “Well rest assured that I will be monitoring the situation closely. And if you ever so much as make him cry…” He mimed a rather aggressive gesture with his thumb, indicating quite a bit of violence that wouldn’t actually harm an android. Although that didn’t stop Nines from shivering - this was the inventor of androids after all, maybe he knew something secret. 

Nines still hadn’t gotten over the strangeness of the situation by the time he got back to Gavin’s apartment for date night - the conversation played over and over in his processors. What was the point of a shovel talk, really? Was it to intimidate him? To show that Elijah cared about his brother? Wouldn’t that have been better accomplished by congratulating the both of them on their new relationship and wishing them the best? It was all very complicated, and it was at times like this that Nines again had to admit he very much didn’t understand human customs. 

When Gavin busted into the apartment several minutes later he was annoyed and grumbling to himself, not unlike a cat that has been told it can’t get up on the counter and is now making a lot of noise to express its displeasure. When he saw Nines he immediately stalked over and wrapped him in a tight hug, head falling onto the android’s chest. The sensation was enough to have Nines’ pump regulator skipping in excitement.

“What’s this for?” Nines asked with a smile, returning the hug happily, “Not that I mind this new form of greeting.”

“My stupid fucking brother” Gavin grumbled, not bothering to lift his head and instead counting on Nines’ enhanced hearing to pick up on his words, “He went and threatened you, right? With a bunch of dumb bullshit? He came and tried that shit with me too, and I had some choice fuckin words for him.” Seeing no point in lying, Nines confirmed that yes, Elijah had given him the shovel talk, and no, he also didn’t see why this had to happen. Gavin grumbled something incoherent and finally lifted his head, his own worry showing through in the way he bit lightly at his lip.

“Sorry, I hope he didn’t upset you too much…” Gavin muttered, eyes flicking up to meet Nines’ then falling back away.

Nines shook his head, and he honestly couldn’t say it had bothered him too much. Confused him, yes, but it was hard to care about what other people said when he had Gavin here in his arms.

“You have nothing to apologize for.” Nines soothed, “It’s nice, after all, to know that other people think of us as a couple. Because if he didn’t think we were going to stay together, why would he put in all this effort?” 

That managed to pull a smile out of Gavin, his mouth slowly quirking up at the edges as he stood up on tip toes and pressed a kiss to Nines’ lips.

“You always pick up on the best things babe” He said, and Nines was inclined to agree. After all, he was the one who had nabbed Gavin Reed as a boyfriend.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> As always, any and all comments or kudos left at any time are loved and cherished <3 If you'd like to see more of my drabbles or stop by for a chat you can find me over on [tumblr](https://ohnomybreadsticks.tumblr.com/)! :)


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